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First RMT

If I have rated a team of yours I have read your introduction. Believe me, I've read all introductions of all the teams I've rated. So, if I have one of your teams, it would be common courtesy to read my introduction.

Introduction

Hello everyone and welcome to my first RMT. Some of you know me and most of the regulars do. For the newer guys, hi, my name is JRC (don't call me JRCxyz) and I like rating here to help and to learn from people. If you look at my join date, you'll see that I joined in October 2008 but, more specifically, 28 of October 2008. Today a year since I joined has passed. A year of learning from the best this CRMT had to offer. A year of making friends and meeting new people. A year of rating.

I was first going to post my first RMT when I got my 100th post but that was when I started learning the tricks of rating and went crazy. Obviously going over the hundreth post. I even deleted 3 of my firsts posts to keep it on the number 100. After some time, I didn't care about it and thought that a nice date would be when I get my 500th post. When I got there, I got tired of Pokemon and went on a break. Then, I came back and actually forgot I could post RMT's so I didn't post any. Until now. I remembered a couple days ago that I haven't made my first RMT and as I was reading some VM's I noticed my join date was close to its birthday. After all this time, after all this rates, and after all the people that has come and gone, toady I'll post my first RMT.Today is my birthday here and I will celebrate it with my first RMT ever.

Team's Introduction

As you most likely know, I just came back recently from a one month break. Since I don't have Wi-Fi avialable, I can't use my computer and therefore Shoddy. This means everything here is Theorymon from my previous experiences and how I've documented myself since I came back to the Pokemon scene.

This is a team that probably best defines me as most of my closest friends from here has battled me with it. And I won most of those games including multiple times against them.This team may not be the most original or the most surprising. But it sure as hell isn't the most standard and, most importantly, features my favorites. This is of importance if you want to have fun while you play.This team has no main sweeper. Instead, all my sweepers are able to sweep depending on my opponent's team. This makes my team very versatile and takes advantage of free turns better than most offensive teams.

This team is all about making use of free turns given by the opponent. However, a certain level of skill is needed to make openings for the sweepers and get those free turns in the first place.

Infernape leads my team a bit differently than most of other LeadApes. This Infernape doesn't try to KO the opposing lead. Not at all. Instead, Infernape focuses on getting free turns of set-up or free damage on my opponent.After a succesful Encore, Infernape ends up either dead or with a free Stealth Rocks. Also, after the Encore, I go to one of my two Dragon-types depending on which move I used Encore to.

The Ev's are simple. 64 Att Ev's to OHKO Blissey and 204 Spe to outspeed tricky opposing LeadApe or Latias who aim to outspeed 196 Spe Infernape. The rest was thrown into Sp.A to get the higher damage output against common leads like Metagross and Jirachi.

This is where I go to when Infernape has used Encore against an Earthquake or Earth Power, which is often used against him by Metagross and Heatran respectively, and get a free turn. This free turn is most of the time used to bomb my opponent with Draco Meteor. What else can I say about him? Fire Blast and Earthquake is used to hit everything Draco Meteor and Outrage don't hit - Steel-types. Oh, and Outrage is my main late-game sweeping tool.

This Salamence is by far more useful on this team than any other wall-breaker. Why? Because he opens the team's sweepers road for a clean sweep. Salamence may not seem as a good idea at first due to his Life Orb recoil and Sandstorm is present on my team, but it is really worth it and needed.

The Spe Ev's allow Salamence to outspeed Jolly Lucario and everything that's aiming for him and a point thereafter. The Sp.A Ev's were enough to 2HKO Bronzong with Fire Blast, if I recall correctly. And the rest is dumped onto Att so my Outrage is more powerful for late-game.

This Kingdra affectuosly nicknamed RAWRKingdra by me and a couple of friends after viciously destroying multiple teams, is the most potent sweeper in this team.To Kingdra is where I go to when Infernape has used Encore to a Water-type attack, which is often used by either Swampert or a Latias who switched in expecting a Fake Out as I get my Stealth Rocks up for free (sometimes even Vaporeon switches in to counter my Infernape just get their Surf into Encore).Kingdra destroys everything with Hydro Pump if it isn't resisted while in Rain Dance, bar Blissey, Snorlax. The former two are easily beaten by Tyranitar while the latter is slightly more difficult to play around. To play around Vaporeon I have to outpredict my opponent as he or she uses Protect to give my Salamence a free switch-in. This will often scare Vaporeon away or make him eat a Draco Meteor to the face. Dragon Pulse is secondary STAB and is used over Draco Meteor since instead of simply being a wall-breaker, but also as a sweeper and the constant damage is well received. Hidden Power Electric is simply there to hit the Bulky Waters super effectively and, with some softening, will 2HKO most of them.Incredibly enough, this Kingdra often needs of proper prediction to work properly instead of sweeping straightfowardly. This is because my opponent often finds him or herself on the situation that stalling my Rain Dance turns is needed.

The Spe Ev's allow Kingdra to outspeed Modest Choice Scarf Gengar and Latias. While the Hp Ev's minimize Life Orb recoil, allowing Kingdra to attack 11 times instead of 10.

My beloved Tyranitar, called Barney, rips through most of the opposition with proper prediction. Tyranitar is my main special hits taker and is a good one at that. Being able to Pursuit and trap Latias, Rotom-A, Celebi, and Cresselia amongst others is a great addition to the team. The sheer power of Tyranitar is able to force switches and accumulates residual damage, making my team's KO's easier. Sandstorm is a mixed blessing. On the positive side, it nulifies my opponent's Leftovers effect, making sweeps easier. On the negative side, only two of my team members are actually resistant to the Sandstorm damage and 4/6 of my team uses Life Orb. The latter characteristic of Sandstorm on this team means I have to make intelligent switches to minimize the damage taken by each of my team members.Tyranitar is of incredible importance on this team because he is the only one who can actually take a Thunder Wave but also because he gets rid of the special walls in the metagame, namely Blissey, Snorlax, and defensive Latias. This means a lot to my team because without those Special Walls my opponent will be hard pressed to stop my two special sweepers.

Tyranitar is a Choice Band user - he needs of prediction to cause great amount of damage to my opponent. SinceTyranitar's teammates cause a lot of switches, they help scout my opponent's team and easing prediction.You might be wondering why in hell I am using a 252/252 spread. Well, I wanted to post my team as it is right now on my Shoddy file and that's how it is so I won't say I have some great spread if I don't. I'll change the spread after some time.

You guessed it. Offensive Suicune. This set is a beast and is able to do some clean up after Kingdra bombarded my opponent's team early game. You know the drill; you use Calm Mind and sweep your opponent. What can I say about this fella other that is usually underestimated and I that I can't understand why? That it is incredibly easy to get a Calm Mind under my belt due to Suicune's natural bulk even without investment. Unlike my previous sets, this one doesn't need much prediction to be used effectively. This eases the preassure on me (pun not intended) while increasing it on my opponent (pun intended).

There's a really cool combo I found out after playing with this team on countless situations and it consits of switching into Suicune after Kingdra has set up Rain Dance. I mean, I don't plan on doing that, but, when my opponent is stalling my turns under the rain, a switch is usually a surprise and will get my opponent off guard with a boosted Hydro Pump.

The Ev's are pretty straightforward. Max Sp.A to deal the highest amount of damage possible. 224 Spe allows Suicune to outspeed Jolly Gyarados and Dragonite and Admant Lucario. The rest is dumped into Hp.

The deadly Swords Dance Lucario. Lucario usually doesn't has the need to appear until late in the game. To be honest, I don't remember wether I ultimately decided to use Crunch or Ice Punch, but what I do remember is OHKO'ing Salamence with Ice Punch everytime he switched on me and winning against opposing Adamant Lucario so Jolly+Ice Punch is listed there. (I would check on Shoddy if I had my computer here but I don't have it so I can't. If you are wondering, I'm typing this on my phone.)Even though it may not seem like it, Lucario is heavily supported by this team. Zapdos is Tyranitar's personal bish, is OHKO'd by Kingdra's Hydro Pump after Stealth Rock, Suicune also OHKO's after a Calm Mind and Stealth Rock with Ice Bea, if I remember correctly, or at least should, and is OHKO'd by Salamence's Draco Meteor after Stealth Rock. Gliscor is OHKO's by Kingdra' Hydro Pump, Suicune's Ice Beam, and is heavily pounded by both Tyranitar and Salamence, specially the latter. Rotom-A is trapped and killed by Tyranitar and is OHKO'd by Kingdra's Hydro Pump. Rotom-A also takes a heavy hit from Salamence's Draco Meteor.

So, as described above, Lucario's counters are all dealt with by my team. The funny thing is that all this support was a complete coincidence. Of course, I know I wouldn't use Dragon Dance Salamence on this team over MixMence but I originally chose my team by the Pokemon itself and not with an actual plan.

Lucario's Ev's are run as a max Att, max Spe spread because there's no other point worth investment. Jolly, as mentioned before, allows Lucario to outspeed neutral Salamence, Zapdos, Celebi, Jirachi, positive Gyarados, and opposing Lucario who choose to run Adamant.

Closing Words

This is where you, the rater, come in. You tell me (what I already know xD) what my weaknesses are and I'll edit my team accordimgly. Here's a start for you: MixApe is beaten by switching into Kingdra safely, wether it is through predictions or by letting something die, and setting up Rain Dance as he uses Close Combat. Now, Infernape has to switch giving a moment to take my time and blast something with my high-powered moves. By the way, Lucario can and will hit Infernape with Extremspeed after he has switched into Stealth Rocks and taken Life Orb twice.

As I wrote this RMT I remembered a curious thought I've had everytime I was going to start wrtting the RMT.That I feel like a hipocrite because I go around CRMT saying "you need a check for X and one for Y" when, in reality, I did this team without that in mind. I only have one Steel-type and isn't bulky at all. Which is also funny since I try to always fit in a Steel-type with actual bulk into the teams I rate. The pont of this paragraph is to let you know that, even though of importance, a check for everything and the stuff that is seen as "needed" isn't really needed. That skill can get you through tough situations and win you games even though you don't have the usual staples that others have.

This has been my first team posted on Serebii. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writting it (not that I had a lot of time to do it so I didn't actually enjoy it but you get what I mean). Don't worry, next time I won't take as long to make a RMT.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm curious, though, did you read the whole post?

Originally Posted by steez

Wow. Stop the terrible posts people.

btw, luke weak/kinda mamo weak

Lol, Mamo. If I get Kingdra in unharmed, then I can use Rain Dance as he uses Earthquake and OHKO the following turn. That's if it is a Life Orb set. If it's Choice Band set, then it is even easier. If locked into Earthquake or Superpower, Salamence, into Ice Shard, Lucario, Kingdra, or Suicune, and if locked into Stone Edge, then Lucario or Suicune. In short, I have a way around all his moves. Also, if it outpredicts me and kills something, then Suicune switches in and nets a surprise KO. But really, unless he's locked into Earthquake, Kingdra just takes the time to Rain Dance up.

Lucario is significantly more difficult to deal with. If Adamant, is a piece of cake, though - Suicune ftw. But, if Jolly, then I must switch into Salamence as he uses Swords Dance. Since I threaten to KO, Luacrio will use Extremspeed and I switch to Tyranitar. Now I either switch once more to Salamence, dying either to Close Combat that turn or to Extremspeed that turn, or I use Earthquake with Tyranitar if I predict his prediction to my switch. In case I mispredict (it won't always be perfect) I simply have to switch to Suicune to OHKO the -1 Sp.D Lucario.

I going to do a really quick rate as I am quite busy,but I still want to rate your team.

On Infernape, I would go with Overheat > Fire Blast. The reason being is that Infernape usually can only get off one hit due to Encoring the first turn and having Focus Sash. Once Blaze is activated, Overheat with perfect accuaracy is going to be hitting like a tank. Although the SAtk is unappealing, you usually aren't alive long enough to attack again and the Blaze boost negates any SAtk drop anyway. You might say that the SAtk drop might give steels a chance to switch in which means Mence can't sweep, but that is only what the oppenent thinks. Even with the attack drop, Overheat will take a good portion of the foe's HP. Plus you can always Close Combat if you don't have any other options.

On T-tar, go with a spread of
252 HP/ 40 Atk/ 216 SDef
It gives T-tar a lot of Special bulk so he can take on Zapdos, Latias, and friends and IMO is the more effective spread.

Haven't spotted any weaknesses yet since I've only glanced over the team, but I'll come back for more once I find some time. >_<

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That looks like a nice Tar spread Zapper, but I would like to recomend Kindroms spread (albiet 8 EV's moved by me ^.^)

240Hp 114Atk 156SpDef

Takes 2 Lefties, 252SpA Timid Surfs from Starmie and is generally a complete champ Hp is for min residual damage (which was my change) the SpD lets him take hits while the rest in in Atk.

I'm not really seeing any way of dealing with Tyranitar here. Lucario can set up on Stone Edge/Crunch/Pursuit, but is destroyed by EQ, Suicune could take a CB hit, but I don't think it could OHKO back.

Other than that and what you have already mentioned, looks pretty solid.

Great first RMT! Much better than mine hahaha.

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looks incredibly solid! you really thought all of it out I guess you had the time
and btw, I read the intro, its kinda interesting wb :P

Upcoming GOD of WiFi.
I do not listen to rap, hip hop, pop, or anything along the lines of that because 99% of it is not real music. However, do NOT pm me concerning my sig necause I don't care. But you can copy and paste this into your sig if you agree. ... started by CreepacisT? Meh, I doubt anyone will copy and paste it, anyways.

@Zapper: Incredibly enough, Infernape is able to give out two hits (sometimes more) when used correctly.

Your post made me remember why I used the 252/252 spread back in the day. Because I won't be OHKO by Scizor's Bullet Punch and OHKO back with Stone Edge. What I need is a spread that can do that. I'll do the calcs when I get time to but if you, or any other rater, wants to give me a spread able to do that then that would be great.

@Gs: Thanks for the spread but unless it does what stated above, I would have to give it a pass.

About Tyranitar, he usually isn't so difficult to deal with. As you said, if locked into 3/4 of his moves, then Lucario is safe to switch in and set up. If locked into Earthquake, then Salamence lol's at him. I'm not sure since I haven't done calcs but I'm almost positive, I would completely sure but without calcs no one is sure, that Kingdra and Suicune can take an Earthquake should Salamence be dead while he's locked into Earthquake.

Zapper and Gs, I'm sorry my reply was so short but is that I wrote a more complete reply on my phone in my way to school but my phone ran out of batteries and my reply got lost. I really hate writing the same thing twice.

@Calum: I'm sorry about that. Then you battled my "Jirachi team". If you are wondering, I call it like that because is my only team with a Choice Scarf Jirachi (which is incredibly cheap). I'll remove that later.

Any comments on the team itself?

@CreepacisT: Thanks for the compliment but I'm even more thankful because you read it all.

One thing I find ironic with this team is that it has Sand up, with only two Pokemon that are unaffected by it (one of which is the one setting it up). To compound this, three Pokemon that are taking damage from SS have Life Orb, meaning that they are going down quite fast.

To demonstrate this, let's take your Salamence as an example. It has a Stealth rock weakness, so once it switches in, it's down to 75&#37; health. Assuming it takes no damage on the turn it switches in, and adding SS damage, your Salamence is down to 68.75% of its health. Now, if you decide to attack next turn, you lost 10% of your health from Life Orb, which brings you down to 58.75% health. And with Sand, you are down to 52.5% of your health. So in two turns, you're already down to about half of your health, not even factoring in an opponent attacking you.

Of course, this is all dependent on how you play your Tyranitar. You may choose to keep it late game, so that SS isn't as much of a limiting factor. You also have Rain Dance on your Kingdra, which removes SS until Ttar comes back in.

One thing that I found odd was your choice of Rain Dance on Kingdra. I know how much it benefits Kingdra itself, but what does it do for the rest of the team? When you use weather, you should think about the team as a whole, not just one Pokemon in specific.

I know about the lack of team members immune to Sandstorm. If you read Tyranitar's description you'll notice I do know it.

I know what you mean when you say that Sandstorm is detrimental to my team; there is no need for a demonstration. Still, thanks for typing that up.

I'll be honest with you, I use Tyranitar when he is needed. Like Lucario. I don't keep him until late-game unless I don't find a use for him on the early- to mid-game. And yes, Rain Dance is useful to get rid of Sandstorm when needed. But really, Sandstorm is useful to negate Leftovers recovery and add residual damage to my opponent.

What I found odd is that you failed to see how Rain Dance benefits my team. Rain Dance gets rid of Lucario's weakness to Fire-type moves, gets rid of Sandstorm for Salamence, and boosts Suicune's Hydro Pump. Who Rain Dance doesn't help in some way? My suicide lead.

Bonus points to anyone who finds out why my Kingdra's spread is outdated.

Bonus points for Towriss. Well, because Latias now uses Timid when using a Choice Scarf. (Not Gengar.) Latias used to use Modest and therefore was the best point to outspeed but now not so much.

I forget how many Spe Ev's are needed for Kingera to outspeed the aforementioned Latias under rain. I think it was 22X. Perhaps 228, but I'm not sure. Now is when someone tells me how many Spe Ev's I need since I'm too lazy to calculate it.

Your post made me remember why I used the 252/252 spread back in the day. Because I won't be OHKO by Scizor's Bullet Punch and OHKO back with Stone Edge. What I need is a spread that can do that. I'll do the calcs when I get time to but if you, or any other rater, wants to give me a spread able to do that then that would be great.

A Max Atk T-tar does 79.65&#37;-94.19% to a 252 HP Scizor with Stone Edge and has a 41.03% chance to KO with SR up. You don't really have good chances to KO so I don't really see the need for all that power.

On the other side of things, a Max HP T-tar only has a 2.56% chance to be KO'd by a Max Atk Scizor's Bullet Punch with SR on the field.( 74.26%-87.62%) So, that's what you should shoot for if you want to use a 252/252 spread.

If you really want those requirements that you laid out, then clearly a 252/252 spread is the best choice.

However, I personally think a more bulky T-tar is better as it counters Latias, Rotom-a, and friends so much better.

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I'll use your spread for some battles tomorrow since I'll have my computer by then. I'll tell you how it goes. I'll also test Wizard's suggestion. And will finally edit the headings and some typos I've spotted.

Ground weak Still a solid team but you're ground weak. I'm ice weak but you very rarely see them so I'm safe but ground types are seen in nearly every battle so get kingdra and suicune to handle them but not the other one's (not even salamence incase they have stone edge)

Actually, I know I'm Ground-types weak. In paper. However, not counting Infernape, I have only two weaknesses and an immunity. My other two members are fairly bulky and won't be OHKO'd by any un-boosted Ground-type attack. Boosted Ground-type attacks are limited to Choice Band Flygon's Earthquake, Choice Specs Heatran's Earth Power, Curse Swampert's Earthquake, and Dragon Dance Salamence's Earthquake in OU, as far as I remember. From which only the latter is actually common or threatening to my team.

Any suggestions to help making my Ground-types weakness a bit less noticeable? Even though, in my opinion, a 2:1 weakness-immunity ratio isn't so bad.

That Kingdra, why are you using Dragon Pulse at all? The whole idea is that you sweep with Hydro Pump, while HP Electric -> Draco Meteor 2HKOs near every bulky water. For the most part this team seems weakened by Rain Dance - harder for everything except T-Tar to switch in while Mence and Nape lose some of their effectiveness. RD Kingdra is a mighty sweeper, but it really prefers Rain Dance support from the rest of the team, and favours the ability to hit like a truck more than set it's own (4 turn) rain - not to say you wouldn't keep Rain Dance regardless.

That Kingdra, why are you using Dragon Pulse at all? The whole idea is that you sweep with Hydro Pump, while HP Electric -> Draco Meteor 2HKOs near every bulky water. For the most part this team seems weakened by Rain Dance - harder for everything except T-Tar to switch in while Mence and Nape lose some of their effectiveness. RD Kingdra is a mighty sweeper, but it really prefers Rain Dance support from the rest of the team, and favours the ability to hit like a truck more than set it's own (4 turn) rain - not to say you wouldn't keep Rain Dance regardless.

I don't think there's really a point to my post .-.

I appreciate your post =D.

As you have said yourself, rain lasts 4 turns. How much harm could it do? I've explained how Rain Dance can benefit my team. I use Dragon Pulse over Draco Meteor because Latias isn't a Bulky Water but still merits a Dragon-type attack to be used. I prefer my sweep not to be stopped by a kill I could have gotten easily.

I like your strategy, I can relate to it. I like to think of it as skill-based offense, like my newest team is. Giving yourself opportunities to outplay the opponent is risky, but it pays off far more often than not if you're good

Your opening strategy is good and tight, and I imagine it will work out. No need to fix the lead; lead sets are always so precise anyway.

Standard Mence is standard, rapes the **** out of **** and deserves his #2 spot back >:[ (Have I been cursing way way more since I got back??)

Kingdra + Salamence is a hell of a combo, I used it on my recent team You even mention how one opens the door for the other, which is exactly how I use them. Sweet.

There's a magic Spe # I used for the SpD CB Tar on one my final teams way back when, I think it outsped something like machamp? I'll look it up, it was really helpful and important iirc.

Suicune has mad synergy with your Kingdra, you're right. Especially since Suicune can set up on a lot of common Kingdra counters (Metagross, Gyarados, other stuff...). I switched tthe Kingdra on my team to rain dance to help my Empoleon right before I replaced it. I'm seeing a lot of similarities in strategy here lol

Honestly, I prefer Crunch over Ice Punch. Jolly nature is usually paired with Ice Punch, but Crunch + Jolly allows you to beat Rotom-H w/o Scarf. A weakend Zapdos can be killed with Extreme Speed anyway. Beating Gliscor is nice, but he can still outspeed you if he's using Jolly so it's nothing to bank on.

"a check for everything and the stuff that is seen as "needed" isn't really needed. That skill can get you through tough situations and win you games even though you don't have the usual staples that others have."

sigging this, I absolutely agree and have been trying to articulate this for quite some time now.

I don't see any weaknesses that can't be played around off the top of my head. Gonna do a more in depth check and edit in...

Damn. I hate when you rate a good team and end up realizing that you didn't say anything helpful at all because there aren't any major flaws. :P

Originally Posted by Witchan

Oh, and any UU pokemon can be used in the Uber metagame and you think that Scizor is better than Beedrill?? Well, here's two things that Beedrill is BETTER than Scizor.